The JAK-STAT pathway controls Plasmodium vivax load in early stages of Anopheles aquasalis infection

• Autor(a) principal: Bahia, Ana Cristina
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Kubota, Marina S., Tempone, Antônio Jorge, Araújo, Helena R. C., Guedes, Bruno A. M., Orfanó, Alessandra Silva, Tadei, Wanderli Pedro, Ríos-Velásquez, Cláudia María, Han, Yeonsoo, Secundino, Nagilá Francinete Costa, Barillas-Mury, Carolina V., Pimenta, Paulo Filemon Paolucci, Traub-Csekö, Yara Maria
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional do INPA
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/16170
• topic: Janus Kinase; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Protein Inhibitor Of Activated Stat; Stat Protein; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Protein Inhibitor Of Activated Stat; Stat Protein; Anopheles; Anopheles Aquasalis; Controlled Study; Epithelium Cell; Female; Gene; Gene Sequence; Gene Silencing; Human; Immunity; Immunocytochemistry; Malaria; Male; Nonhuman; Nos Gene; Nucleotide Sequence; Oocyst; Organismal Interaction; Parasite Load; Pias Gene; Plasmodium Vivax; Protein Expression; Protozoal Genetics; Rna Interference; Stat Gene; Animals; Anopheles; Biosynthesis; Brasil; Dna Sequence; Gene Expression Profiling; Immunohistochemistry; Immunology; Isolation And Purification; Molecular Genetics; Parasitology; Animal; Anopheles; Brasil; Female; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Knockdown Techniques; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Molecular Sequence Data; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Plasmodium Vivax; Protein Inhibitors Of Activated Stat; Sequence Analysis, Dna; Stat Transcription Factors

Malaria affects 300 million people worldwide every year and 450,000 in Brazil. In coastal areas of Brazil, the main malaria vector is Anopheles aquasalis, and Plasmodium vivax is responsible for the majority of malaria cases in the Americas. Insects possess a powerful immune system to combat infections. Three pathways control the insect immune response: Toll, IMD, and JAK-STAT. Here we analyze the immune role of the A. aquasalis JAK-STAT pathway after P. vivax infection. Three genes, the transcription factor Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STAT), the regulatory Protein Inhibitors of Activated STAT (PIAS) and the Nitric Oxide Synthase enzyme (NOS) were characterized. Expression of STAT and PIAS was higher in males than females and in eggs and first instar larvae when compared to larvae and pupae. RNA levels for STAT and PIAS increased 24 and 36 hours (h) after P. vivax challenge. NOS transcription increased 36 h post infection (hpi) while this protein was already detected in some midgut epithelial cells 24 hpi. Imunocytochemistry experiments using specific antibodies showed that in non-infected insects STAT and PIAS were found mostly in the fat body, while in infected mosquitoes the proteins were found in other body tissues. The knockdown of STAT by RNAi increased the number of oocysts in the midgut of A. aquasalis. This is the first clear evidence for the involvement of a specific immune pathway in the interaction of the Brazilian malaria vector A. aquasalis with P. vivax, delineating a potential target for the future development of disease controlling strategies. © 2011 Bahia et al.